A Brief History of the Tujia: Tujia Culture in the Late Feudal Society (Part 2)
II. Tujia Culture After the Replacement of Native Chieftains with Officials: The implementation of gaitu guiliu and the influx of outside cultures created favorable conditions for Tujia cultural development, broadening the Tujia people's cultural horizons and, through exchange with outside cultures, continuously absorbing new cultural information and elements.
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II. Tujia Culture After the Abolition of the Native Chieftain System and the Establishment of Regular Administration
During this period, the implementation of the abolition of the native chieftain system and the influx of external culture created favorable conditions for the development of Tujia culture. On the one hand, it further broadened the cultural horizons of the Tujia people; on the other hand, through exchange with external cultures, the Tujia also continuously acquired or absorbed new cultural information and cultural elements, making Tujia culture even richer. At the same time, in the face of the cruel exploitation and oppression of the feudal court, as well as the aggression and bullying of foreign forces, the contradictions between the Tujia and the feudal ruling forces and foreign aggressors continuously intensified. Therefore, Tujia culture also bore the brand of the times—opposing exploitation and oppression and opposing foreign aggression.
First, school education in the Tujia regions developed rapidly. After the abolition of the native chieftain system, the prohibition from the chieftain era against commoners studying and becoming literate—"violators to be punished by clan extermination"—was broken. The Qing court established schools in the Tujia regions: prefectures set up prefectural schools, counties established county schools, and academies and Confucian temples arose in response to the times. Running parallel with government-run academies, in areas with relatively concentrated populations, privately run schools funded by the local community were also established one after another. Wealthy families even hired teachers to instruct their children, each having their own family school, and some even invited famous teachers from a thousand li away to teach at home. The establishment of schools made the Tujia regions "increasingly prosperous in literary culture, with people knowing to pursue learning." Not only could the children of propertied families attend school, but even "humble families also regarded their children's recitation and study as important." However, under the exploitation and rule of the feudal landlord class, those who received education were mostly the wealthy children of propertied families, while the vast number of poor Tujia peasant children still had no opportunity for education.
The Qing court also established examination halls in each prefecture and county, holding imperial examinations to select scholars, with the principle of "three Tujia to one guest," taking more "Tujia youths" and fewer "guest youths," to encourage Tujia youths to enroll. Thereupon Tujia youths eagerly took the examinations. During the Qianlong reign, those going to take the examinations in Yongshun County numbered "no fewer than over a thousand." "Although Yongshun was newly opened territory, Han and Tujia youths studying and taking examinations were no different from the interior." At one examination session in Hefeng Prefecture, 457 civil examination youths took the test, and in Changle (present-day Wufeng) County, 285 civil examination youths—equal to the quota of examination youths in Yichang Prefecture. Due to the establishment of schools and the holding of examinations, the number of Tujia people with cultural knowledge gradually increased. There was no lack of senior licentiates and tribute students, and metropolitan graduates and provincial graduates appeared from time to time. In Laifeng County, "of those who achieved fame, Tujia youths accounted for eight or nine out of ten, while those of guest registration accounted for one or two out of ten." Among Tujia youth in Longshan County, "those diligent in learning and capable in letters, who passed the prefectural examinations and entered the schools, constituted half, and there were even those with poetry and books passed down through several generations without interruption." This group of people with cultural knowledge played a certain role in spreading Han culture and in preserving, organizing, and developing their own ethnic culture.
Second, writings and poetry emerged frequently, with wide-ranging content. Ran Guangxi of Youyang Prefecture was a metropolitan graduate of the Renchen year of the Qianlong reign and once served as magistrate of Tunliu in Shanxi. Later he resigned and returned home, teaching and instructing students. "Several hundred came from all directions to study under him, and many passed the highest examinations." His works, Manuscripts from the Yuyong Hall and Miscellaneous Writings from the Erliu Mountain Studio, were published. Xiang Zhengbin of Laifeng County wrote A Record of the Successive Titles and Political Deeds of the Xiang Clan. Yang Licheng of Kesha in Yongshun County loved reciting poetry and authored the Collection from the Airi Mountain Studio. Zhang Guanshu of Guancangping in Waitawu was skilled in medicine and compiled books such as Supplementary Annotations on Cold Damage and Medical Precepts. Those skilled in painting were even more numerous. Qin Guangyu's paintings of plum blossoms and chrysanthemums, Yao Chuntang's butterflies, and Luo Jinsheng's fish "all enjoyed fame in their time." Zhou Zhengnan was renowned for painting bamboo and authored the Book of Bamboo, achieving high accomplishment; visiting celebrities all wrote colophons and prefaces for his book.
Poems reflecting the real life of the Tujia people emerged in large numbers, among which bamboo-branch songs were the most common and quite distinctive. Peng Yongxing and Peng Shiduo of Yongshun County, and Tian Taidou, Tian Fengnan, and Tian Daxuan of Hefeng Prefecture all composed large numbers of bamboo-branch songs, with broad and profound content, concise and clear language, sincere and moving emotions, and vivid style, easy to read aloud. Below is a Bamboo-Branch Song by Peng Yongxing on the theme of the ancient Daxiang town in Yongshun:
On Yuping Mountain the grass grows lush and green,
Below Yuping Mountain the water babbles clear.
The town of Daxiang is hard to capture in a painting—
Green hills beyond hills, streams beyond streams.
This poem describing the mountains and rivers of the Tujia region is fresh and beautiful. Below is a Bamboo-Branch Song by Peng Shiduo reflecting Tujia customs and habits:
In Fushi City, brocade makes the nest,
By the Tujia King's palace, water ripples in the pond.
Ten thousand red lanterns, a thousand people thronging,
A single lingering song of the hand-waving dance.
Peng Qiutan of Changyang County was renowned for his poetry and authored works such as The Qiutan Poetry Collection. His bamboo-branch songs were widely praised and famous in his time, and his elder brother Peng Jin was also skilled at composing bamboo-branch songs. Peng Qiutan's bamboo-branch songs had wide-ranging content and rich flavor of life. Among them is a Bamboo-Branch Song reflecting Tujia marriage customs:
The song of the ten sisters is too sorrowful,
Parting from mother, stamping feet, tears soaking clothes.
Ningshan's land is near the Wu Mountain Gorge,
Just like the Ba women singing bamboo-branch songs.
This is even more fresh and pleasing, blending scene and emotion, vividly portraying the scene of Tujia women parting from their loved ones on the occasion of marriage. Below is a Bamboo-Branch Song describing the productive activities of the Tujia people:
Planting rice and hoeing weeds, drums and gongs sound,
Men and women fill the mountain slopes all around.
The baby on the back is placed in the shade,
The man calls a song and the woman answers back.
This song is true and moving, with a rich flavor of life. In addition, there is a Bamboo-Branch Song from Nanxi in Longshan County reflecting the bitter life of Tujia peasants:
After bean flowers bloom, rapeseed flowers are fragrant,
Wheat is green and barley is yellow.
Wild vegetables with roots are mixed into porridge and boiled,
For poor families it serves as half a year's grain.
Tian Taidou of Hefeng Prefecture was not only skilled at bamboo-branch lyrics, but also accomplished in other regulated verse forms. In his 'Sigh of the Mountain Farmer,' written in imitation of ancient poetry, he used a sharp pen to depict the impoverished life of the Tujia people under exploitation and oppression:
The corn is half green and half yellow, and then it was ruined by autumn rains.
Half the price goes to the landlord as rent, and half the price goes to the rich as debt.
As soon as one enters the rich man's granary, in years of poor harvest he will not sell.
Though hungry belly is hard to forget, in panic they say clothes are worn and torn.
……
The official runners came yesterday, like a swarm of soldiers they went from door to door to levy.
Shedding tears to tell the official runners, the mountain farmers are utterly exhausted.
In addition, Tian Taidou's 'Song of the Famine Year' and Tian Tuxuan's 'Digging Ferns' both vividly reflect this theme.
Third, religious beliefs underwent changes. Han Chinese religious beliefs spread in large numbers into the Tujia areas. As large numbers of Han officials and common people poured into Tujia areas, through intermarriage with local residents and daily interactions, they gradually changed the original beliefs of the Tujia people. In addition, Han circulating officials vigorously promoted the transformation of customs, propagated orthodox Daoist and Buddhist thought, and built Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, so that some Tujia people gradually became devout followers of Daoism and Buddhism, and some even became professional Daoist priests, nuns, and monks. Many Daoist and Buddhist elements were added to traditional Tujia culture. This was mainly manifested in: (1) Deities worshipped by the Han were added to the Tujia belief system. Among the deities believed in by the Tujia people were added the Jade Emperor, Supreme Lord Laozi, the Buddha of the Western Heaven, and Guanyin; the ancestral spirit tablets of the Tujia were occupied by the Han concept of "Heaven, Earth, Ruler, Parents, Teachers," while the originally enshrined ancestral tablets fell into neglect; when Tujia shamans performed rituals, the deities they invoked also included a large number of Buddhist and Daoist gods, such as Supreme Lord Laozi, the Three Pure Ones, the Old Man of the South Pole, Zhang Tianshi, the Three Mao Perfected Lords, Vajra Arhats, and the Four Heavenly Kings. (2) The social functions and status of Tujia shamans declined, while those of Daoist priests and monks rose. Before the replacement of native officials with circulating officials, shamans in Tujia areas held very high status, some even concurrently serving as village heads, and all major and minor affairs in the village were decided according to the shaman's will. As Buddhist and Daoist thought was increasingly accepted by the broad Tujia population, many affairs in Tujia spiritual life were gradually taken over by Daoist priests and eminent monks, and the status of Tujia shamans declined somewhat. (3) Shamanistic practices gradually weakened. Likewise, due to long-term influence from Han belief culture, Tujia religious customs were inevitably impacted, causing the formerly strong shamanistic atmosphere among the Tujia to gradually diminish, and some sacrificial activities even merged with those of the Han. For example, in sacrifices to deities, "gentry offered sacrifices in spring and autumn and to the two temples of civil and martial deities; villages sacrificed to the Lord of Rivers to pray for a good year, and on the last day of the year sacrificed to the Kitchen God to pray for blessings." The Qing Tongzhi edition of the Xianfeng County Gazetteer, "Record of Ceremonies," states: "Since Xianfeng's replacement of native officials, for over a hundred years the sage's grace has nourished and transformed the people; rites, music, farming, and sericulture have become comparable to the interior, and it is fitting that customs have changed with transformation."
Along with the entry of foreign aggressive forces into Tujia areas, foreign religions began to appear in Tujia areas. In the first year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty (1862), the Catholic Bishop of Eastern Sichuan, Fan Ruose, sent Father Deng to Youyang for examinations and established the "Gongxin Hall"; in the twelfth year of Tongzhi, the French missionary Zhang Zilan and Father Yu Ke went to Qianjiang, Sichuan, to build a church and preach, and in the same year the Dutch missionary Tian Guoqing preached in Lichuan, Hubei; in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), the French bishop De Xisheng went to Enshi, Hubei, to build a church and preach. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all counties and cities in Tujia areas had Catholic and Protestant churches; in Hunan's Yongshun alone there were as many as 10 Catholic preaching halls. However, because of the enormous differences between Western culture and Tujia culture, very few people in Tujia areas believed in foreign religions at that time.
Fourth, moral concepts gained new content. After the replacement of native officials with circulating officials, the Qing court widely promoted Han cultural values in Tujia areas. For example, the Qianlong edition of the Hefeng Prefecture Gazetteer records: "Rongmei lies in a remote part of Chu and has not been gradually civilized by education; the cardinal relationships and ritual propriety have never been clearly explained. People do not know that humans possess the five constant virtues, and that every action has its rules... Order the schoolmaster to teach the sons to read thoroughly in the school by day, and order the sons to review at home by night. Fathers and elder brothers of sons without [schooling] can also hear the great principles of loyalty and filial piety, and the fundamentals of conducting oneself and acting in the world. After long habit, people's hearts will be upright, customs will be generous, and ritual and righteousness can flourish." As Han culture gradually penetrated, Tujia moral concepts gradually changed. Among the Tujia, "customs are mostly simple and honest; although there are few men of letters, the sound of recitation never ceases in the schools. Even public service is surely undertaken urgently. Men plow and harvest, elegantly possessing the manners of Tang and Wei; women work at weaving and spinning, and do not know the adornments of cosmetics." Many people gradually accepted Han social etiquette culture, and gained a deeper understanding of fine moral qualities such as serving the country, honoring parents, respecting teachers, and being friendly to neighbors, and strengthened their fine moral qualities and honest, kind folkways of defending home and country, valuing justice, treating others with sincerity, and helping one another in adversity.
Fifth, Han cultural elements penetrated extensively into folk customs. Due to the broad contact and exchange between Tujia culture and Han culture, many elements of Han culture were integrated into Tujia customs. For example, in life-cycle ritual customs, the Tujia gradually accepted the Han coming-of-age ceremony, namely the capping ceremony, except that the date was changed to the day before marriage. "Their relatives and friends, according to his name, gave him a courtesy name, made a small plaque, and sent it with drum music, hanging it in the hall, thereby showing the meaning of capping and giving a courtesy name... On that day the bride's parents feasted their daughter, and personally put up the daughter's hair and inserted the hairpin, calling it the 'flower-wearing wine.'" In weddings, the Tujia gradually abandoned customs such as sitting on the bed, returning the bone seed, and bride capture, and accepted Han marriage ceremonies, retaining ancient customs only in such aspects as crying over marriage, dragging the sedan chair, and driving away the bridge evil. In funerals, some Tujia areas also began to accept Han Daoist priests to perform funeral rituals for the deceased, such as opening the road to guide the dead, resolving the kalpa of life and death, and conducting Daoist rites, gradually abandoning past customs such as cliff burial and bone-picking burial. In New Year and festival customs, Han festivals such as celebrating the Lantern Festival, New Year visits during Spring Festival, tomb-sweeping at Qingming, moon worship at Mid-Autumn, and ancestor worship at Zhongyuan also flourished in Tujia areas. For example, "At midnight on New Year's Day, they adjusted their clothes and caps, prepared incense and candles, set off firecrackers, opened the door, worshipped Heaven and Earth and the family shrine, and men and women in order bowed and congratulated their elders. They walked toward an auspicious direction, worshipped the God of Joy, went to the ancestral hall to sacrifice to ancestors, and visited ancestral graves. Then they congratulated clan relatives, called 'paying New Year calls.' Those far away and neighboring relatives were congratulated successively on other days. In cities, many used small red cards inscribed 'so-and-so respectfully congratulates'; upon entering the door, there was no need to bow. When guests arrived, the host set out a fruit tray and tangyuan to entertain them, called 'receiving wealth.'" Tujia festivals became similar to Han festivals in many respects.